Cole Swindell’s “You Should Be Here” Is A Touching Tribute To His Father

Cole Swindell’s You Should Be Here was a touching tribute to his father, who unexpectedly died while he was on a radio tour in 2013 after he signed a record deal with Warner Music Nashville. He penned the song alongside hit songwriter Ashley Gorley and released it in 2015 as the lead single of his second studio album of the same name. 

You Should Be Here was warmly welcomed by fans and critics alike, earning Cole Swindell his fourth number one country hit on both Billboard Hot Country Songs and Billboard Country Airplay charts. It also peaked at number 31 on Billboard Hot 100. 

In an interview with Dave Paulson, Gorley said that the idea started when he was at Gillette Stadium in Boston for a sold-out Luke Bryan concert where Cole Swindell was one of the openers. He was out there in the bus with Swindell writing songs every second that Swindell was not playing or doing an interview. 

During that time, he found himself just walking around the station to take it in. He took a little panoramic shot and sent it to his daughter, who was a big country music fan with a text saying ‘You Should Be Here.’

Then it hit him like a double-take, and later on the next afternoon, he brought up the idea to Swindell. While it came from a place of happiness for Gorley, the impact of those four words brought back memories to Swindell. When they wrote the song, they decided to just focus on him and his story and just let people apply it however they want.

It was a song that would let you feel the emotion of a loss. You can watch Cole Swindell’s You Should Be Here in the video below. This is one of the Cole Swindell songs that deserves a listen.